Teitan Academy: Open My Eyes
by Neji-WarmingUpWinter
Summary: .AU. When honor student Sera Masumi first stumbled into their club room, they hadn't expected that she would give them the first push to each of their stories with another. She hadn't expected it either. Although she would only play a small part later on, she played a big one in their first steps. KaiShin, HeiHaku, KazuShi
1. Are You Ready?

Disclaimer: No.

Warning(s): Shounen-ai, AU, incest

Pairing(s): subtle KaitoXShinichi, HeijiXSaguru/SaguruXHeiji, and KazuhisaXShigeo (twincest), and a lot of one-sidedness and not-soserious pairings

_Summary: .AU. When honor student Sera Masumi first stumbled into their club room, they hadn't expected that she would give them the first push to each of their stories with another. She hadn't expected it either. Although she would only play a small part later on, she played a big one in their first steps._

A/N: I just _felt_ like it. ((Inao) Kazu and (Nagashima) Shi are from Third Base Fourth, if you didn't know) Hopefully, it won't be so bad. Think 13 for Shinichi (he skipped like, three grades or something), 16 for the twins, 17 for Kaito, and 18 for Hattori and Hakuba.

.:::.

**Teitan Academy: Open My Eyes**

Chapter 01: Are You Ready?

It started with that one fateful day.

The day started out normally enough. The club members had met up right after last period, and prepare for the opening of the Teitan High School Host Club.

"I am _not_ wearing that!"

The outburst came, and scholarship student Kudou Shinichi glared outright at his messy-haired look-alike. Kuroba Kaito pouted, dress still held firmly out in front of the other. "But it fits you so well, Shin-chan!"

"But it's a _girl's_ costume!" he protested, a pink flush dusting his cheeks delicately, "_Juliet's_, no less! What am I supposed to do, get in that cosplay and play love story? Why can't one of _you_ play it?"

"I'll cut a fourth off of your remaining debt," Hakuba Saguru spoke up from his corner, and Shinichi sighed and sagged.

"Fine."

Hattori Heiji snickered. "Man, he got you good there, Kudou! Who's the Romeo? I call first dibs!"

Inao Kazuhisa and Shigeo glared outright at the Osakan. "Who gave you permission to call first dibs? Love triangle is so much better!"

"Hey!" Kaito cut in, "I'm the king, so _I_ get to call Romeo!"

"Calm down," Saguru cut in smoothly just as the four were about the bite each other's throats off. "Play a game of Evolution or something and_resolve_ it."

Three members turned abruptly towards him. "That's not fair for us!" Kazuhisa and Shigeo chorused. "Tono always wins those games of chance! You have to think of something else that _doesn't_ require chance!"

"If you want it that way," the half-Brit shrugged. Analyzing them for a moment, at last, he spoke. "Kuroba can have Romeo – he _is_ king after all, Hattori-kun, you be Juliet's cousin who gets killed. Inao, you two do that part from Macbeth or something, decide on that yourself – I'll be the priest that marries Romeo and Juliet."

"You always make me the one that gets killed!" Heiji glowered angrily, but submitted anyway. The twins had already disappeared off to who knows where to prepare.

"This fits surprisingly well," Kaito commented offhandedly when most of the club had gathered back in the main club room. He was dressed, almost casually, in a barely off-white dress shirt with a gold outlining, ruffled slightly in front of the next. Matching dress pants and a leather shoes completed the outfit. "Where did Shin-chan go?"

"Still in the dressing room," Saguru made a note in his notebook, pushing up unneeded glasses. The half-Brit was wearing a set of old-fashioned priest robes that fell all the way down, concealing his shoes. Heiji snickered outright, clad in his own outfit, complete with a fake sword on his belt.

"You should wear those more often, Hakubaka. What, did Holmes not marry people back in his day?"

"He had much more important things to do than that."

"I meant _you_, ahou. _You_, unlike your crazy beliefs, are _not_, in _any_ way, related to Holmes. Maybe Kudou, but not you."

"I'm related to who?"

The Hosts jumped at the voice, spinning around only to stare at the scholarship student that just appeared, staring in awe. Clad in a borrowed off-white dress with a soft gold lining that barely revealed his plain flats, and bunched up at just the right places to create the impression of breasts, he was a sight to behold. His bangs had been swept off to one side, and the hair extensions just reached his shoulders. All in all, he look very pretty has a girl, and his fellow members didn't hesitate to say just that.

"Shiiiiiinnn-chaaaaaann, you're so cute~!" Kaito easily glomped the other, making the honor student blush, trying to push him off with delicate hands, but nonetheless, did not succeed. "Get off!"

"Can we kiss you?" the twins teased, and was rewarded with spluttered rejections and a bright red blush of embarrassment. Heiji snorted.

"Why would he want you to ki – " he was cut off when the door creaked, signaling that someone was about to enter. In less than half a second, all six Host Club members had taken their places, just when that person entered.

"Welcome –"

They stared.

"...Princess."

.:::.

Sera Masumi was not having a good day. At all. She had expected this school to have at the very _least_ to have some place _quiet_ for studying. So far, none of the school's five libraries were not just that. And she would really need to study if she wanted to stay in this school. The courses were really challenging.

So when she stumbled across the Third Music Room down the third corridor on the third floor of the school, you couldn't say that she was particularly surprised. But, this was not what she was expecting...

"Welcome..."

She stared.

"...Princess."

_What_ _the –?_

"Oh, look, it's another boy," two voices chorused. She frowned. What did they mean by 'another' boy?

She was _not_ a boy!

"If I recall correctly, wasn't this one in your class, Inao?" A heavily British accented voice spoke next.

"Yeah, and he's also a new scholarship student, but this time, he's actually our age," the first two voices chorused once again.

When the flower petals that had been blown into her face finally cleared, she got a good look at them.

There was six of them: two of which she recognized from her class, and another from word of mouth. The twins in her homeroom were Inao Kazuhisa and Shigeo – two natural-born pranksters, though Kazuhisa, being the elder one of the two, was more refined than his twin, who was usually the mastermind of their pranks.

The other was Kuroba Kaito, who she had never really seen, only heard of from the many gossiping girls in her class, by means of not-really eavesdropping, of course. Apparently, he was a real charmer, a magician that always presented the girls with roses – though she hadn't heard any stories of any girl getting a _red_ rose yet, though there were rumors that a scholarship student in his sophomore year did get them, but she had brushed them off. She didn't think she would stumble across them anyway.

Until now...

Talking about that, that girl over there seemed familiar for some reason, though she was almost positive she hadn't met her before.

"Can you not talk as though I am not here?" She put up an annoyed face, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Attention was finally drawn. The sole girl, or so she believed, of the group blinked. "Wait...that isn't a –"

'She' was cut off by a pointed look that was sent her by the blonde with the British accent, to which she tilted her head, in confusion, but realization dawned when the blonde nudged his head the jade-eyed boy's way.

"Well, it wouldn't be good to ignore our first customer, would it?" The messy-haired boy sitting in the middle produced a yellow rose. "Especially when that student is our second scholarship student, Sera Masumi."

She gaped. As far as she knew, no one talked about her much around the school. "How did you...?"

"Oh, please," the twins rolled their eyes. "Everyone on campus has at least _heard_ of your name, though you're not what we would call insanely popular unli – "

"Don't be discourteous to our guest," the blonde scolded the two. Masumi silently agreed with him, but jerked away when two jade-green orbs appeared inches from her face. Backing away slowly, she was regretting ever stepping foot into this room.

_Crash._

Oh. _Shit_.

Slowly, she turned her head to inspect what she had broken. A vase. An antique vase. A vase that looked like it was worth millions, to be exact. Great. Just great. She obviously didn't have enough money to pay this.

How was this going to turn out?

She was interrupted from her thoughts by a loud groan. "I swear, you guys put that vase there so it can get broken, and people have to pay their debts." She didn't even have to look to know that there was now a whole array of innocent looks."

"Why, Shin-chan, why would you say that?"

"We would never do something like that!"

"Kudou, do you really think so lowly of us?"

"There is absolutely no merit in doing so, Kudou-kun."

"But that's not the matter at hand now," the blonde sighed, before smiling unnecessarily sweetly. "Since it seems as though you, too, are a commoner, welcome to the Host Club. You're our newest member."

When her mind finally caught up with her ears, it, once again, came to a screeching halt when it processed what she had just heard.

_What_ _the_ _hell?_

.:::.

When scholarship student Sera Masumi first knocked down that vase, they had to bite their lips hard enough to almost draw blood to prevent bursting out in hysterical laughter, and therefore let the honor student escape from their clutches. But for now, they had another debt on their hands.

"Wait, join your club? Why?" The boy – _girl_, Shinichi corrected himself, spluttered. Almost like him when he first made the same mistake. He tugged absently at his hair extensions. Why did these things have to be so _itchy_?

Saguru sighed exasperatedly, before explaining the obvious. "You broke the vase, which, may I add, is worth eight million yen. And you obviously don't have the money to pay it since you can't even afford a school uniform."

Shinichi's eye twitched. That was the _exact_ _same_ _speech_ he got when _he_ broke that vase last year! He glared up at the half-Brit. "Can't you be any more creative? Though I suppose I should applaud you on your memory..."

"I am much complimented."

"Is Kaito rubbing off on you?"

"I would prefer not."

.:::.

Masumi sighed in boredom as she watched the Host Club members. Why was she here again? Oh, yeah, because she accidentally broke that vase, and would have to join their club until a thousand customers requested her.

But for today, she was just watching.

She refrained from the urge to cover her ears as the room erupted into squeals. The 'king' of the Host Club, Kuroba Kaito, and Kudou Shinichi, whom she discovered was crossdressing – making her the only girl – not that she minded much though, she needed to pretend to be a boy anyway, to repay her debt, where apparently doing a scene from 'Romeo and Juliet'. The balcony scene, to be exact.

"But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Shinichi is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, who is already sick and pale with grief..." The two exchanged words in old English, Kaito in a flawless accent and imitation of what Romeo was supposed to sound like.

Shinichi was embarrassed for life. He had especially put on makeup to hide his flush, though it made his skin seem even paler than it already was – unnaturally pale – when he wasn't blushing.

"Do you do this every day or something?" Masumi asked Saguru, who was taking notes right next to her.

"That the club's budget would not allow."

_Jeez_, she thought, annoyed, _doesn't_ _he_ _know_ _how_ _to_ _say_ _no_ _like_ _a_ _normal_ _person?_ "You know, it's so obvious that those two like each other." She blinked at the 'look' that was shot her way. "What? Is there something on my face?"

The blonde didn't reply, instead turning away, though she was sure that she would be analyzed more in the future. Really? Was it about Kuroba and Kudou liking each other or something? It was so obvious, even a _blind_ person could see it. The way the 'king's' fingers lingered unnecessarily longer on the other's skin, how Kudou pulled away, flustered, every single time it happened.

For some reason, this sparked a faint sort of jealousy within her. It had never happened before...

She supposed that she would wait it out. After all it was _only_ a thousand customers to serve, and it could've been worse...right?

.:::.

As days passed, it didn't take a genius to figure out that she was totally wrong in her initial guess that a thousand was going to be a breeze. Her average was around two or so customers a day, which was probably good enough for someone who didn't receive any training at all. Because, it seemed, that everyone else in the club had some mutual attraction to Kudou Shinichi, whether or not that was really the case.

Shinichi himself, however, seemed oblivious to it all. All of their flirting were just harmless teasing in his eyes, and meant nothing really serious. Was there anyone that could be possibly more oblivious than him?

And the way they interacted – the others had obviously known each other for quite some time, and she was relieved to find out that Shinichi, too, had been forced into the club, for breaking the same vase.

But it seemed as though their social standings, especially apparent in the Club, was far apart. Shinichi himself was far more popular, both among club members and the ladies. His around seven customers a session was enough proof of that.

As for the club members...

.:::.

"SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNN-CHAAAAAAAAAAAAANNN!"

The shout echoed throughout the Club Room. Shinichi barely had time to brace himself before Kaito rammed into him. "Kaito! Don't do that!"

"But, Shin-chan!" the magician whined. "You promised to act with me in club activities today~! Don't you remember?"

As if just remembering that Masumi was also in the room, he grudgingly – well, sort of – added, "Oh, and Masumi-chan, when you put down the cup for the customers, don't make such a loud sound!"

"Well, I'm sorry, but none of you decided to teach me," she ground out, but Kaito ignored her in favor of cuddling his 'Shin-chan'. Behind her, Hattori Heiji snickered, covering his mouth to muffle the sound, but she heard it nonetheless. She glared. "And _what_ do you find so funny about this?"

"Nothing, nothing," the Osakan snickered out. "Just remembering the first time Kudou stumbled into this room. Almost like you, really, but Kuroba really took a liking to him that time. We all did. But...you're sorta different."

"Well, duh. Talking about it, you guys aren't dressed up today. What, going out to play hide and seek with the ladies?"

She received a blank look in return. "Hideandseek? Kudou, what's hideandseek?"

Honestly, these rich people as so infuriating. How was she going to survive without sending a kick into their faces?

.:::.

For now, probably the only people that she could hold a decent conversation with was Shinichi and Saguru. The rest of them...were just, to say plainly, too crazy for her tastes...Not that Saguru wasn't crazy himself.

But for what happened after this episode of her breaking the vase, she was only a side character, and Shinichi, the main, of the proceedings...

What she hadn't expected was that her own blunt way of doing things, startwire with the offhand comment about Shinichi and Kaito liking each other would set off such a road of possibilities...

.:::.

A/N: So I decided to use song titles for this series. The overall title is "Open Your Eyes" by the Rasmus (the bestest!). Chapter title is "Are You Ready" by Three Days Grace. I would've wrote Eisuke and Makoto, but since I can't write them for the life of me (and for future purposes), I chose Kazu and Shi. They are Gosho's characters, after all...has anyone read 3rd Base 4th? Lucky me, school starts next week...I won't promise anything, but you should look for the next chapter starting next Thursday.

Tell me what you think (pretty boring, I know, I don't even deserve your comments)? What should Shinichi's fear be?


	2. FFFFalling

Disclaimer: Not the last time I checked.

.:::.

**Teitan Academy: Open My Eyes**

Chapter 02: F-F-F-Falling

"What? The beach?"

Shinichi blinked up at Kazuhisa and Shigeo, who were grinning down at him, almost evilly. Besides him, Masumi yawned. "That's right, Shinichi! Didn't you say that you wanted to go to the beach before?"

"Did I say that?"

"I have a recording if you want to hear it," Saguru called from his place two tables away from them, typing away at his laptop. Masumi and Shinichi both sweatdropped. "Uh...no thanks, then..."

"So..." the twins made a extravagant show of sweeping off to one side, "we took the pleasure to select your swimsuit for you!" Behind the two fashion heirs, were at least a hundred different kinds of outfits. No, it wasn't the problem of the outfits _exactly_. More because...that they were_girl's_ swimsuits. A vibrant blush made its appearance on Shinichi's face.

"What makes you think that I'm going to wear that?" he ground out, clearly embarrassed. "I am _not_ a girl!"

"Aw, but you'd look so _cute_ in it!"

"SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNN-CHAAAAAAAAAAAANN!" A certain magician had appeared out of nowhere to tackle the aforementioned brunette, and Masumi had to nearly stuff her fist into her mouth to keep from laughing at her friend's predicament, purposefully ignoring the pleading look that was sent her way. "For once, they're right! You'd look so _cute_ in that thing~! Please, for me, Shin-chan~?"

"No is no, barou!"

"But Shin-chan! Don't you think you look cute like that?"

It was then that Shinichi looked down on himself, only to immediately wish he hadn't. Sometime during the exchange, the magician had managed to exchange his cloths for the swimsuit in the front – in reality, bikini – that the twins had brought. The top part of the bikini had lacy frills, the bottom pretty plain. It was a shade of sapphire that was just a shade lighter than Shinichi's eyes. His flush darkened considerably. "Kaito!"

"Yes, Shin-chan?"

"Give me my clothes back!"

"But you look _adorable_ like that~!"

"Kuroba!"

.:::.

"Did you have to invite the guests along as well?" Masumi half-complained to Saguru the next day. They were currently 'relaxing' on one of the Hakuba's private beaches. Well, not exactly _relaxing_, especially not for the Hosts. Saguru had decided, at the last minute, presumably, to invite their customers along with them.

"Well, I had to get _some_ merit out of this, after all. I invited you six along for free, while the ladies had to pay, so you better entertain them well," Saguru barely spared her a glance as he jotted god-knows-what down in that notebook of his.

A little way down the shoreline, Kaito was entertaining a line of girls by doing magic tricks, giving them roses, which Masumi did not fail to notice that they were all yellow, and tricks that ranged from simple card tricks to complex ones containing animals, water, and the such. And sappy talk. Mustn't forget that.

Kazuhisa and Shigeo had brought along with them a baseball set, complete with gloves and all that. Although Masumi had never seen them play before, she could tell it was nearly impossible for them to keep on doing 'slow' fastballs and the such. Although a few times the ball did go above 'slow', those were called as a 'ball'.

Shinichi had been dragged into a game of hide-and-seek with Heiji and his gang – Masumi could just make out his figure among a tall tree, through the leaves. Heiji himself seemed to be having trouble finding anyone at all.

"Talking about it, Hakuba," two voices chorused from behind Masumi, and she jerked in surprise, "is the offer from last summer still up?"

An arched eyebrow was their answer, before realization dawned and a shrug was given. "I suppose." Masumi blinked.

"What kind of game?"

Identical grins of mischievousness was turned her way, as both twins chorused, "We're trying to find Shinichi's weakness, of course!" Sweatdropping, Masumi turned away. Seriously? What was the prize, then? "And the prize was supposed to be pictures of him all dolled up and such!" She sighed. It should've been obvious.

"That's it?" she deadpanned.

Shocked expressions ensured.

"What do you mean, 'that's it'?" Shigeo put on an expression of mock hurt as his brother continued, "Shinichi _never_ lets us even _touch_ a camera – or our phones for the matter – when tono dresses him up."

"Security cameras?"

"They're turned off in the club room."

"What's the frickin' _point_ of this game?"

"I'll cut a half off of your debt if you are the first to find out."

"...You're on!"

.:::.

This was getting tiring. Was he even afraid of _anything_ at _all_? Masumi sighed as she sagged into a chair. She may do pretty well as a detective, but this...she should just give on getting half of her debt cut off. This was _impossible_.

Though if she was all about herself, she couldn't say that it was particularly surprising. Before she had transferred, she had done quite a bit of detective work, and with that kind of job, you couldn't really have many fears. She had heard from some of the ladies that Shinichi used to do light deduction work before as well.

Her own set of girls had been charmed easily, getting her a personal record of twenty customers in this one trip, though it was nothing compared to the others. They were still getting used to her, after all.

Based on information from both the twins and Kaito, with snippets from Heiji and Saguru, a lot had been eliminated already. The darkness, ghosts and the like, spears and such, it was almost too many to count properly.

Not of heights either, it seemed.

She watched as he absently kicked around a soccer ball on a ledge overlooking the ocean, with a group of around six ladies watching him from behind. The rest of the club members seemed to be going back to entertaining guests again, and deducting from the barely visible disappointed expressions gracing their faces, none had succeeded.

.:::.

"Let them go!"

A soccer ball hit the boy squarely in the back, causing him to fall forward and release his hold on the girl, falling flat on his face. Picking himself up right away, he turned to glare at the offender, who was none other than Shinichi.

"And why should we listen to a sissy boy like you, kid?" Shinichi fingered his soccer ball threateningly, rolling it a little, and the guy gritted his teeth angrily, clearly in doubt of his next actions. Shinichi should have known something was wrong when a smirk suddenly burned its path across the other's face.

_Wait a moment...wasn't there _three _guys?_

But realization came too late as he felt his right arm being twisted at a less than comfortable angle behind his back as he winced as the blood seeped through the fabric of his shirt; in that motion, the first boy kicked the soccer ball from under his now weak foot over to his second companion.

"What do you suggest we should do to this sissy? Give him a taste of his own medicine?"

"Oh, certainly. Kick him into the ocean, where he belongs!"

"Shinichi-kun!" One of the girls let out a small cry as a sickening 'crack' echoed through the air, and Shinichi let out a gasp of pain.

"I claim the position of the one who gets to kick the ball at him," the boy that Shinichi had first shot the ball at smirked as he staked his claim. Shinichi cringed inwardly. This was not going to bode well for him.

His body tensed with anticipation as the boy readied to kick. Just as his foot connected, Shinichi felt himself being pushed roughly in the air, plunging into the ocean. The last image that filled his mind was of Kaito, who had hoisted him up after pulling him out of the water, before proceeding to unleash his fury on the boys.

Who had already been hit at least ten times with a metal baseball bat rather hard by each of the twins.

.:::.

He woke up on something soft, like a bed. Blearily, his eyes blinked open. The dimmed lights of a room greeted his eyes.

"Sleep well, Kudou-kun?"

It was then that he noticed the half-Brit was also in the room, looking like he had just come out from the bath, as he was toweling his obviously wet hair, without a shirt on. He blinked, until memories of earlier came back to him. "How long have I been out? Were those boys taken care of?"

"Sera-chan and Hattori-kun nearly beat them to death," Saguru chuckled, allowing himself an evil smirk, before pausing. "Well, after Kuroba dyed their hair pink, dressed them in tutus, and the twins each took a swing with a metal baseball bat. And you were only out for a few hours." Shinichi had to grin at the mental pictures. "It was such a _pain_ getting them to stop completely, you know."

The two-year honor student looked up when Saguru then let out a sigh. "I'm going to have to send apology bouquets to the ladies though." Shinichi looked down in regret. "Am I supposed to pay?"

"No, I've packed up the fight and sent bills home to their families, to pay your medical fee for that arm and all the flower bouquets. Believe me, you wouldn't want all that added on to your debt, _with_ interest."

"That's just plain creepy, Hakuba-kun."

It was then that the door creaked open. "Hakuba, I was wondering if you'd seen..." Masumi trailed off when she saw the two. She blinked, almost comically, "Um, am I interrupting something important...?"

Before she could finish her sentence, Saguru had breezed past her, into the hallway, closing the lights of the room in the process.

A forgotten memory tugged at the back of Shinichi's mind, one that he longed to forget. His father's death...

His eyes widened when Masumi approached him, arms swinging loosely by her side. Thunder and lightning flashed across the sky, enlightening the room. The memory hit him like a wave, and he backed away until his back was flush against the headboard of the bed. It was just like that time...

_~*.::Flashback::.*~_

_Thunder and lightning streaked across the dark sky, enlightening the dark house, with all its lights closed. His mother had gone some time ago with a friend, and wouldn't be back until around very late that night, presumably past midnight. He was watching from a crack through the closet, as his father faced off with a messy-haired man dressed from head to toe in black with a kitchen knife, which he had obtained from their very own kitchen when the two had gotten there._

_He wanted so badly to go out and help him – but his order was to stay hidden, and obey he would. He thought that he would know everything by the time it was all over, and this man was long gone._

_Oh, how wrong he was._

_It had started out as an ordinary evening, only with the thunderstorm raging outside. They were just clearing the dishes left over from their dinner, when a knock came at the door. His father had peered out through the window, and visibly blanched at what he saw._

_He had wondered who or what it was that was at the door._

_But before he could get a look for himself, in one motion, he had been shoved in the closet and told to stay put. Surprised as he was, he obeyed, for he knew that his father would tell him as soon as the person who had come left again._

_That is, if he had survived the incident._

_But what happened was not what he expected._

_"__Give me the whereabouts," the messy-haired man's voice was threatening, eyes flashing, but he couldn't remember what color they were._

_"__I see no reason to," his father's voice was calm, never wavering even as the knife was pointed at him. "Your purposes are not what I would like to have been done with my work and of my reputation."_

_"__In the end, it all comes down to reputation, doesn't it?" the man in black growled threateningly. "What would you do without it? Tell me where it is, Kudou, or suffer the consequences of your actions." His lips curled into a sneer. "You wouldn't want to leave your wife and that child of yours alone, would you?"_

_He resisted the urge to whimper as the man pressed his knife threateningly against his father's throat, but he refrained from doing so. His father remained steadfast. "My answer, as I told you, is no."_

_"__On your head be it."_

_His muffled scream went unheard as the man in black slashed the knife across his father's throat, effectively slicing off the man's head. Silent tears ran down his face as his father's limp and lifeless body fell to the floor, blood staining the once pristine white rug coating the wooden floor of the house. The man sneered at his father needlessly, before he turned his back, and fled the house._

_And that was how his mother found him the next day, whimpering in his sleep, in the darkness of the closet._

_~*.::End Flashback::.*~_

It had been because of that incident that he now hated dark rooms illuminated only by the light outside, and an unnatural fear for rainy, thunderous storms, and being in small, trapped spaces, especially closets.

"Shinichi?"

He looked up. He didn't know when he had closed his eyes and buried his head between his knees, curled up to look as small as possible – probably a trait learned from the few previous thunderstorms –, but as the lightning and thunder had abated for the time being, he considered it safe enough to look up. "Y-Yes?"

She was scrutinizing him carefully. "Do you have...astraphobia?"

"Not always," he muttered. "Only since _that_ incident. But it was a long time ago. I don't want to think about it." He had never thought that he would ever be in such a similar situation again. Although it was wasteful, the lights would be on full-blast in his home during any storm, thunder or not.

"This better, then?"

The lights were flicked on, and he glanced up gratefully. Masumi herself was amused when the next thunderclap didn't even cause the boy to cringe or flinch the slightest bit, visibly, at the very least.

"You know, you're really sorta weird, Kudou-kun," Masumi commented cheekily when the other seemed to quiet down some more. "Scared of thunder and lightning in the dark but not in brightness? That's really weird." A deadpan.

"Circumstantial circumstances," he deadpanned, but it was true.

"Just stop thinking about it." It was then that Masumi brightened up. "Oh, that's right!" A confused look was shot her way.

"What?"

"You do know that game that Inao, Kuroba, and Hattori were talking about, right? The one where Hakuba was offering a prize? It concerned you."

An almost comical blink. "...No?"

She sighed. "But I don't suppose you want them to know too."

"Know _what_?"

"Nothing, nothing~!"

.:::.

A/N: That was stupid. I realize that I must finish the chapter and never think of it again, else I'll never meet my deadlines because I'm commenting about how bad this is, and that doesn't make sense, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Weird song choice, I know. But none of the other songs I knew even remotely fit. At least there's a fall in the chapter...right? And at least Shinichi's fears were justified? Originally, Sera's part was going to be Kaito's, but that's too cliché...Is it just me, or is a lot of ShinKai (instead of KaiShin) going around lately?

Sorry for the super long author's note...I'm just pissed that my class schedule doesn't appear four hours after it was supposed to...still waiting...ugh...

Comments? And if you're feeling charitable (I don't blame you if you're not, I just killed off Yuusaku), who should the members of the Zuka Club be composed of?


	3. OneX

Disclaimer: NO.

.:::.

**Teitan Academy: Open My Eyes**

Chapter 03: One-X

"Sports festival?"

"You don't know either?" Masumi raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were here last year as well, right?" Shinichi shrugged.

"I was, but they didn't host any sort of sports festival, as far as I know," he explained. "Maybe it's a new event?"

"Actually, we host it biyearly," Saguru called to the two as he entered the club room. "It started only two years ago, actually, with the sports club challenging the Host Club. More specifically, a childhood acquaintance of mine, Gunter Von Goldberg, who has never won once against me, may I add, was challenging me again. Though this year, he has withdrawn his challenge, and it's merely a sports festival for entertainment of our classmates and usage of our free time, which we have much of."

"Absolutely," Masumi and Shinichi mumbled under their breath, going unheard by all but themselves.

"While they do say it's a sports festival," Kazuhisa called from the doorway, "there's actually plenty of events that have nothing to do with sports, especially the ones for the girls, like that bread-tasting thing."

"And there's those bean bag tosses and deduction games or something," Shigeo added. "They're really not for those who are really athletic. You have to participate in at least three events though, and everyone has to enter. Though with that arm, Shinichi, I think we can get you a pass for only one."

"Awesome!" Masumi pumped a fist in the air. "Is there any sort of martial arts competition or something? More specifically, jeet kun do?"

"I'm sure I could get that added to the roster of events, as our class is in charge of hosting it this year." Saguru shrugged absently, making a note in his notebook. "So, so far we also have kendo, which Hattori-kun specifically requested, Kuroba-kun requested a magic trick competition, the twins wanted a eating competition for some weird reason...any other requests? There's already a deduction one."

Masumi deadpanned. "Is everyone just going to get what they request? If they do, it's going to take a month to finish all of them."

"Well, _duh_, we vote," Heiji, who had just arrived, called from where he was standing by the doorway. Masumi shot him a half-offended look. "Well, then, _excuse_ me for not knowing _everything_ that goes around here."

"Well then, _you_ should _find_ _out_ before you say such rash things," Heiji smirked, before yelping as he dodged a blow to his head. "What was that for?"

"For being a jerk," she replied scathingly, dusting off her hands carelessly as she stood up. "But I guarantee I will hit next time if you say that again. And in some place _sensitive_." Heiji cringed, as he tried not to imagine exactly _what_ the outcome would be. Masumi smirked, as she had gotten her point across.

It was then that the doors of the room burst open, and Kaito literally came flying in. Okay, maybe not _literally_, but close enough. "I've got the lists for the teams! There's three teams this year! Red, white, and gold!"

"Are they sorting by last names again?" Kazuhisa and Shigeo chorused, almost worriedly, but with an air of anticipation, with drooped enormously when the magician nodded assent to their question.

"It's Masumi-chan and Kazu, Hattori-kun and Hakuba and Shi, and then Shin-chan and me~!" The so-called 'king' of the host club proclaimed, floundering his step as he proceeded to glomp the smaller boy. Said boy flushed rather darkly, trying to squirm out of the other's hold on him, unsuccessfully, of course.

Thankfully, he was saved by the arrival of the guests.

.:::.

"It seems better mixed this year," Shigeo observed as he surveyed the room in which their team had met in. They had been assigned the color gold, and it seemed that nearly everyone here at least had an item made purely out of the substance. Masumi made a slight face as the others bustled around them.

"You think so? But it isn't really like you to just sit around and watch, you know. I would've thought you'd have pulled something by now."

The younger twin shrugged. "It isn't so fun if you don't have anyone to pull it with you. Besides, there's so many people it's basically impossible to get anything set up." The girl, though, smirked.

"Ah, something impossible for a prankster? That's got to be a first!" She snickered at the mock offended look she received. "How could you say that? I'm merely saying that if I decided to prank right now, it would ruin all chances of us winning!"

"So you _do_ care about things like that."

"I'm offended you would think otherwise."

"Just stop it. I'm trying to listen."

"If you were trying to listen, you wouldn't be talking to me."

"Shut up."

"Well, anyway, last year, the team I was in was full of the top students in the school, and therefore, we won. Tono was absent on some school business, so he was omitted from the roster, though he knows all about it." Shigeo shrugged. "I suppose that's why they didn't do it again this time. What competitions are you going to do?" He asked, changing the subject smoothly.

"Jeet kun do, duh, the deduction one, and...the all out martial arts thing. You?"

"I suppose the three-legged one sounds alright."

.:::.

"Stop being such a damned cold-blooded machine!" Heiji growled as Saguru deciphered strategies they were to use it they wanted to win in a monotone, though the rest of the people in the room listened with rapt attention, making notes on their papers. When they recognized the obvious war-starter, they began to talk among themselves. The latter glared up at him at the comment.

"Oh, then, pray tell, what do _you_ have in mind?"

"Something _much_ more interesting," Heiji leered, almost innocently, but not really hiding any meaning among the words., not catching the light flush that spread over the half-Brit's cheeks. On the side, Kazuhisa watched the scene with half-hearted amusement, but, too, was ignorant, in favor of brooding the fact that he and his brother, once again, were not on the same team. Did they _have_ to do name order?

"You're saying, Hakuba-senpai, that we should focus ourselves on the intellectual parts of the competition?" A student from the second years questioned the older boy, looking up from where he was discussing with his classmates. A nod was his response as the half-Brit began to explain.

"We have nearly no hope in the magic, as Kuroba-kun is rather adept at it, but since there is a limit, I see that it would be beneficial..."

"And there it goes again," Heiji sighed, headdesking. But, for once, the older twin noticed the fondness in his tone.

.:::.

"If you're even going to present at the meetings, you could at least _listen_," Shinichi deadpanned as Kaito pranced around the room, dying random teammates' hair brilliant shades of green, orange, and pink. They had been named part of the White Team, which had been winner two years ago.

He couldn't really say he was surprised at the innocent look he received. "What are you talking about, Shin-chan? Of course I'm listening! But I have to practice for competitions too! What if someone totally awesome at magic pops up out of the blue and gives me a run for my money? That won't be good!"

"The only one popping up out of the blue will be you, I presume," once again, he deadpanned, though half-heartedly as he reprimanded the other, "I doubt that the judges will give you very high scores if you dye their hair pink. You're at the risk of getting a zero," He rolled his eyes exasperatedly.

A mock-offended look was sent his way. "Oh, how _dare_ you say that? It's just that they don't know how to appreciate _true_ magic."

"I wonder about you sometimes..."

"Ooooo...In what way?"

_Smack!_

"_Pervert!_"

.:::.

The day had finally come. The whole attendance of Ouran Academy crowded into the school's relatively huge arena. Shades of gold, white, and red made up the color of the clothes of the students, depending on their team. It really was majestic and grand, far better than what they were used to..

"Oh my!" Kudou Yukiko exclaimed as she and Masumi's parents took seats in the bleachers, "I didn't think that it would be so big!"

"It really is grand," Masumi's mother agreed dreamily, "Isn't that right, dear?"

"Yes, darling."

"And I can't wait to see our little girl show off her skills," the woman sighed dramatically, with a dreamy air. "She'll own everybody else, and make them so ashamed that they won't even dare to step foot within the ring again! That's how good our little girl is at what she does. Isn't that right, dear? Remember, back in her grade school days, when she attended that club? She totally owned everyone!"

"Yes, darling."

"And her deductions are always spot-on! Almost no one can beat her in that, not to say anyone in this school! Ah, I _do_ wonder who she inherited her genes from, I don't think that even as parents we could ever even come _close_ to being as good as she is, her level is just too high! Isn't that just right, dear?"

"Yes, darling."

"Oh shush," Yukiko grinned. "Just be quiet. They're about to start!"

.:::.

The competition had kicked off nicely enough. According to everyone that had been there two years ago, it, again, started with the tea party, with the Red Team, this time, scoring the first point, although the others quickly caught up.

"Make sure you don't drop the baton," Saguru snickered as Heiji took his place by the starting line. The other shot him an annoyed look, choosing to retort with, "At least if _you_ were the one holding it, it'll slip out because the time _you_ are most energetic is when the moon is high, after all, so when it's the sun's turn to shine, you don't _nearly_ get blessed enough by it. The moon is your best time."

Kazuhisa choked on his water, spluttering with barely contained laughter at the implications of the sentence, whether Heiji had meant it or not. Coughing heavily to clear the excess water from his lungs, he choked out, amusedly, "You _do_ realize what your 'moon' comment implied, right, Hattori?"

He wasn't expecting the two blank looks – faked or not – he received. "Whatever do you mean, Inao?" Heiji blinked, almost comically, and Kazuhisa doubled over in silent mirth as the other two looked on, officially, and silently, for once, mutually agreeing that he was crazy, and it was just an inside joke.

Well, not that he had ever fit under the 'sane' category before.

But that didn't mean he couldn't be insightful.

It was almost like how he knew that Hakuba would be rooting for Hattori no matter how cold he may act on the exterior.

Just maybe, he thought mischievously, he liked him.

.:::.

"So, how was I?"

"Awesome," Shigeo grinned lopsidedly as the girl took a seat by him, wiping off sweat with a towel hanging around her neck. Masumi grinned, punching a fist in the air in her victory of first place.

"It wasn't anything, really. They're so out of _practice_," she complained, fanning herself absently. "Don't you guys have clubs like these around? With so many of them, I thought there'd be at least _one_."

"Uh, actually, none that I know of. Half of them got disqualified because it was karate instead of jeet kun do," Shigeo sighed, running a hand through his hair. "It's not all that common around here, and I heard that it only got voted on because people thought it would be _interesting_, not that any one of them really knew how to fight with it. Karate and kendo ware both way different from it, after all."

"I'll never understand you rich people," she sighed.

"Until you become rich yourself."

"By then, I wouldn't even be in high school, so you can't really say I'll be like you. That'll be crazy, anyway. I'm sane, Kudou-kun's sane, and the rest of you are all _in_sane," she corrected dryly, "Not that I'll ever be as rich as you."

"Thanks for the compliment."

She deadpanned, sarcastically, "That wasn't a compliment. It was an insult to all you insane, rich, _and_ spoiled kids. I don't know _how_ you guys eat up all that free time. I'd go insane, though you people are far from saints."

"I always knew you loved us. Don't bother denying it."

"Shut up."

.:::.

"How was I, Shin-chan? How was I?"

Kaito bounced back to where Shinichi was sitting on the bleachers, having just competed and obtained the first place. Shinichi made an annoyed noise from where he was, buried within the pages of his newest novel. "Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnn-chaaaaaaaaaannn~," he whined pitifully, putting on a pout.

The smaller boy sighed, drew himself out from the pages and closed his book with a snap. "What, Kaito?"

"Did you even watch me~?" Again the annoying, pitiful, drawled out whine. Shinichi pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing.

"Yeah, yeah. Congratulations."

The nest thing he knew, he was being glomped affectionately. "Aw, I knew you cared, Shin-chan~!"

Blood seeped into his face. "B-Barou! I do not!" he stuttered, trying to pull out of his grip, to no avail. Not that he was really trying, but not even in death would he ever, _ever_ admit that to anyone.

"But you congratulated me~!"

"That doesn't mean anything!"

"Of course it does! It means you _do_ care about how I feel!"

"It doesn't!"

.:::.

"All competitors in the next competition please report down to the ring! You have five minutes transition time!"

"Good luck," Masumi offered Shinichi from their places by their tables. He smiled back. "You too. Break a leg." A little distance away, Heiji and Saguru sat, trying their hardest not to look at each other, though it was just a _little_ hard, seeing as they were the only two to enter in their group, so they would have to work together.

They needn't have worried on it being too hard, though, as it turned out more of a competition of who could raise their hand in the air the fastest and get out their answer. Ties were common, and the judges had a hard time making out who got first, so, therefore, they all got the points, up until some of the harder ones.

"So, who committed this crime?"

The brother. It was almost too obvious. First, the cigarette. Then, the dying message. Lastly, the totally obvious photos. Surely those kids weren't _that_ dumb not to figure it out. Points to all three teams.

"How was this magic card trick done?"

He didn't do anything. All he did was pretend to 'concentrate'. It was the simplest card trick in the world. Points to Red and White.

"The mice are coming out and becoming active. What time is it? Clue: This has references to another country's mythology."

Eleven o'clock at night. It contained references to Chinese mythology. The time of the mice is from eleven to one at night. Points to White and Gold.

One by one, scores were all so close they might as well have been equal, with White in the lead (Kaito's lucky streak, of course).

But everyone had to agree, the one that took the most time was the last one, which was only put on because the police themselves couldn't solve it. Which was...

Duh. A Kaitou KID heist note. Right?

"And for the final round of this competition, you shall deduct the message through this Kaitou KID heist note!"

See?

And on the screen flashed the following riddle:

_"Kisses to me,  
To the nearest minute will do,  
Right before the deadly, poisoned point falls,  
I shall come to collect the Jewel cursed by the moon."_

And that was all that stayed calm before the fangirls went rabid and all the hell broke loose.

.:::.

A/N: Spider is sort of like Hakuba's enemy in the anime, right? And 'childhood acquaintance'. "One-X" by Three Days Grace because I have absolutely nothing that fits this chapter. On the other hand, it was the only song _I_ knew that even remotely fit it. /maimed

Besides, this is me, and I fail. Take a guess at the riddle (it's really a real gem)? For me? I'll give a faster update? Oh, how I hate school...Who the hell cares about music? It's going to be the thing that brings my average down...Depressed...Now I won't get that award...That teacher is really a pain! I need that friggin' grade! /shot

Zuka Club (if this, which members? I can't decide), singing competition, amusement park, KID heist or visit to Sera's or Shinichi's house? And try to solve the riddle! I'll do a request for whoever guesses right _first, _and the next chapter earlier! And 'Yes, darling'. /shot dead


	4. Smash

Disclaimer: No.

.:::.

**Teitan Academy: Open My Eyes**

Chapter 04: Smash

The room had become chaos. In the minute after the riddle had been displayed, the room had become _chaos_. Fangirls on the bleachers were cheering, boys were staring, competitors were copying the riddle down on their new blank sheets of paper, and it was a good fifteen minutes before things quieted down the least bit, and the judges were able to get the competition back on track.

"And so, whichever team is able to produce the correct answer, which will be judged by our very own chairman, Kuroba Toichi, will be getting two hundred points added to their team score! Are you ready?"

Cheers were his answer, before things mellowed into faint murmurs so the competitors could work.

Most were staring very intensely at their copied riddle, unable to truly make something out of it, considering the possibilities.

"'Kisses to me', huh...?" Masumi mused as she tapped her pen absently. Around her, her teammates clutched their papers in their hands, sweat forming on their foreheads. She sighed in exasperation at their fairly useless attempts. "Kiss can be represented by an 'X', but then how many X's does it want?"

Not a single person replied to her unanswered question. They were too busy trying to burn holes through their paper so that the answer would magically come to them. They were smart, sure, but riddles just weren't their thing, even if they had already seen at _least_ twenty of them from previous heists.

If her teammates weren't going to cooperate, how was she going to figure it out? Sighing, she turned to peek over the shoulder of her nearest seatmate, aforementioned seatmate too busy scribbling to notice, not that the honor student really got anything out of looking at it. She couldn't read the scribbles, whether they were going to turn out to be helpful or not, the latter being more likely.

"Sera-kun, do you think that the written 's' sort of looks like a five?"

She blinked, almost comically, as realization dawned. Thanking the person, she didn't bother to find out who exactly, who had suggested it half-heartedly, she set to work on the riddle again. If she recalled it correctly it would equal to about that number...Now to do the damned multiplication...

.:::.

"The 'Jewel cursed by the Moon' would be the Syamantaka gem, if I recall correctly," Saguru noted absently as he eyed the note with interest that was apparent for the first time since the whole affair started. "It is said that there was a legend attached to this particular jewel right now, it itself currently being displayed at the Beika Museum, so I am fairly certain about the degree of correctness."

Heiji shot him a dour look. "Because of _course_ you would know, _genius_," he bit out, almost angrily, though there really wasn't all that much heat to it, not that it was actually intended to be in it.

The half-Brit only shrugged nonchalantly, ignoring the Osakan. "'To the nearest minute will do'...that must mean that the first line, 'Kisses to me', refers to the time this heist would take place."

"Stop ignoring me!"

Nonchalantly, the blonde shrugged. "I wasn't ignoring you. I was just stating what I thought about this note. It's not my fault that you mistakenly thought that I was ignoring you. After all, you always _have_ been quite a bit dense, if someone else hasn't told you that already. If not, they should."

"You think you're smart, don't you?"

"No, only that I'm considerably more intelligent than _you_ are, at the very least."

"Don't you know how to say 'yes' the proper way?"

"I assure you that I do everything properly, including _not_ _getting_ _sidetracked_, unless a _certain_ someone."

"You were just sidetracked a few moments ago."

"I was still thinking about it."

"Evidence?"

"Why you-!"

.:::.

Meanwhile, Shinichi himself had been figuring some things out. Okay, so maybe, just _maybe_, he eavesdropped just a bit. But just a little bit! It wasn't his fault that the others always talked so loudly!

Okay, he'll stop with the denials.

...But it was true!

Totally, completely _true_!

Sighing, he turned back to his math, if he got that part of the riddle solved correctly, but not before a quick glance around at his teammates. Kaito himself hadn't signed up for this particular competition, which he found quite weird – not that he wasn't thankful for it – . Well, sort of. The magician had done just about every other sort of thing like this. So why hadn't he signed up for this?

Pulling his mind back from where it had wandered off to, he focused back on the riddle. Fifty times e should be around...That means that the time would be that...a synonym of new is virgin...the virgin reign...uh...That's it!

With a triumphant grin, his hand shot into the air as he finished scribbling down his answer, almost wincing as it put unnecessary strain on his still injured arm from the whole beach incident. Honestly...when was it going to heal anyway? If he had gotten this correctly, it should be...

An attendant came to collect his paper for inspection. Waiting on the edge of his seat in anticipation, he bit his lip, almost hard enough to draw blood. Unsurprised as he was, he let out a breath when it was indeed...

"We have a winner!"

.:::.

"Congratulations, Shin-chan, congratulations!"

"Kaito, get off of me!"

But even he couldn't stop the almost giddy grin from making its way onto his face. He hadn't ever received such attention before. Before he came here, sure, he was pretty famous for his little deductions here and there, but nothing much more. But there was pros to transferring to Teitan...

For example, back where he came from, he happened to be a walking murder magnet, and saw death more than necessary. Or was it just one of his friends that was the murder magnet? It didn't happen around here anymore, something that he was profusely grateful. But he couldn't help wondering anyway.

But it wasn't really the time now to wonder about such things.

Besides, the cons far outweighed the pros of the situation!

...Okay, maybe not.

"Isn't it time for you to go now?" he tried instead, knowing that any attempt to get away from the Kuroba was immediately rendered fruitless,_almost_ disappointed when its wasn't assent that he received.

"Nope~! Still have another 15 minutes~! Are you losing your touch?"

"I conclude that I should be insulted by that comment. But aren't you talking about Hakuba with the time part?"

.:::.

The competition itself ended as expected, the White team securing their win by a good seventy-five points in the lead from the Gold team, leaving the Red team for third, to put it nicely so _someone_ won't throw a fit.

Currently, everyone was out for dinner with their respective families. While the Host Club sat, grouped together at the Hakuba household, their parents where striking up intelligent – or as good as they could get – conversations about business and the like with each other. Well, at least the men were. The women were busy cooing over how well their children had done once again.

"I can't believe you guys won _again_," Heiji groaned comically, burying his face in his hands as he picked at the fries on his plate, almost absently, and dipped them in the ketchup. "Damn your luck, Kuroba! We should totally ban you from being on any team!...Unless I'm on the team, of course."

Said person only shot the glum Osakan a cheerful all-too-bright smile, taking a break from trying to feed Shinichi a cookie to reply. Aforementioned person himself was grateful that the Hattori had intervened, though the latter himself didn't seem to be particularly happy. "Talking about winning, you owe me money~! Hand it over, else I'll just steal it. I know you have it on you, anyway, I searched you earlier."

"When did you...never mind, I'll just shut up about it. Just remind me to never bet against you ever again," the jade-eyed boy grumbled moodily, drawing out a wad of bills, snapping his chicken leg in half, cleanly. "Even if it's only some unneeded pocket change, it's still money." Shinichi and Masumi only stared at the bills that the others had considered 'pocket change' – which was technically five hundred thousand yen.

Damn those rich people...

"I do wonder where you got your stupidity from, though," Saguru input monotonously from where he sat, handling a plate a carefully prepared well-done steak and vegetables. "Kuroba-kun's so lucky, you've got to be _insane_ to even _consider_ betting one yen against him. You're father is plenty respectable – as is your mother. You're the only stupid one in your family, or so it seems."

The Osakan bristled. "Yeah, well, you're the only one in _your_ family that's so arrogant and heartless. Last time I met your dear father, he seemed much more open and easier to talk to than _you_ are."

"You think? Well, that's because..."

Ducking out of the line of fire of the continuous insults that followed, the rest of the members watched for a while with little interest, before getting on with life and their meal, into their own little conversations.

"What did you bet anyway?" Shinichi glanced suspiciously at his lookalike. "I know for sure that Hattori wouldn't have agreed to a bet if it was only if his team won, he would win, if yours won, then you win. What did you blow this time?"

"Absolutely nothing, Kudou-sama!" None of the club members bought the act for a millisecond, least of all the younger honor student, who glared down at their king's bowed form in front of him. "So?"

Innocent act finally dropped, said Kuroba bounced back up. "I only bet him that if he won, I would kowtow to him five times at every social gathering we met at until his death, along with a quota of...let me see...a million yen, if I recall correctly. He would win if either my team didn't win, all the while getting fifty points above his, the third team won, or if his team got the most first places."

Masumi sighed. Of course even their _bets_ would be totally insane like the people that made them themselves.

Well, as they say, there aren't any such thing as stupid questions, only stupid people that ask questions, so therefore, there are no crazy bets, only crazy people that made bets? That made no sense...

Polishing off the last of their meal, with Heiji and Saguru still giving each other dirty looks, they headed back for the closing ceremony.

.:::.

The closing ceremony was grand, even the two commoners had to admit. Held that night, with fireworks, lights, and all sorts of other things. It really was a perfect night, the moon full, the sky free of clouds.

While we're on that topic, how _did_ they get platforms big enough to fit a third of the school comfortably on it, with at least a quarter of its space still left free? Damn all those frickin' rich people...

"Remind me again how they managed to move this here in the half an hour we were gone?" Masumi deadpanned to her companion. Shinichi shrugged.

"We probably don't want to know. I mean, rich kids have probably been dubbed as 'crazy' at least a century ago."

Well, anyway, the party afterwards lasted until very late that night –well, actually, into the morning–. Champagne and French wine were passed around, to even the underage. Everyone had a great time doing so.

...Well, almost everyone.

"W...What the _hell_ is he doing?" Masumi watched wide-eyed as she watched a group of boys, Hattori included, sing an extremely loud (and awful) rendition of Lady Gaga, covering her ears and wincing.

"They're all drunk." Saguru deadpanned, materializing magically out of the crowd to answer her question, video camera in hand. She deadpanned in return when she caught sight of the camera he held.

"And oh so very concerned of your friend making a fool out of himself," she rolled her eyes. "Or is it only because of the merits and profits it will bring to club the day after the next?" She wasn't really surprised at his assent.

"The ladies, I find, have no objection to it, if the way they are currently watching the group are any indication. But Kuroba-kun and Kudou-kun seem to be having quite a lot of fun too, but I'll get to that later."

Curious, she turned to look, only to immediately regret she had. Immediately but forcefully, she pulled her vision away from the sight. _Do_ _not_ever _look_ _again_, she told herself silently. _Not_ _ever_ _again_.

It was then that she noticed what she had thought odd the whole night but didn't take notice of now – everyone's hair was either exuberant shades of orange, yellow, or pink, or was drab with blue, green, and purple.

Including her own.

Great. Just great. How the hell was she going to get that dye out of her hair? It would waste a lot of unnecessary water, increase bills, or should she just borrow one of the other's? No, they'll probably charge even more...

.:::.

It had been two days since the passing of the sports competition, and Hattori Heiji was having the most embarrassing day in his life. First, that stuck-up half-Brit goes and puts a video of him doing something he did not remember doing and would _not_ be caught _dead_ doing! Had he been drunk?

He still grimaced when he thought about it.

_"Turn it off!"_

_"Why, may I ask? Your earnings have skyrocketed today."_

_That bastard of a half-Brit. Why couldn't he just go along with the dumb blonde stereotype? Talking about that, it would be cool..._

_...But that was not the topic here! First, he had to focus on killing that DAMNED VIDEO! Curse the Hakuba!_

_"Just TURN IT OFF!"_

_In the background, Lady Gaga played._

Oh well, at least his earnings had been good. Not that it eased his horrible pain in any way the slightest.

He was seriously considering slicing Saguru's head off neatly with his kendo sword...but murder was a pain to cover up, so that was totally vetoed. And with the security cameras he wasn't sure how to get a hold of in the room...

He decided to remove his depressing thoughts and tried to listen to the other's conversation. It had been a while since the end of club activities for the afternoon, and they were just staying behind.

"So? What's our next project?"

Masumi made an exaggerated show of sighing again. One thing was over with, of course there would be another event right after. Did these rich people really have _that_ much time on their hands?

"The KID heist!" The twins proclaimed loudly, throwing out their arms in an exaggerated excitement, but stopped short when Kaito shook his head. "Then what? Was there another event? We don't remember any..."

"Actually, I already signed all of you guys up for it," Kaito's eyes gleamed. "You see, you're all going to have to..."

Masumi didn't know why Shinichi had looked so horrified when he finished the sentence he had started.

"...sing."

.:::.

A/N: That's about as long as I can make this damn chapter. Lack of inspiration. Lots of it. Chapters where practically nothing happens are always hard to write. Killed my brain with this. _And_ it was rushed. I hate Tutorial...I want that sticker so you can get out of it! I just found out, people aren't supposed to fortune tell for me, else their lifespan will shorten (I have 8 'suns' (yang), as they put it.). How cool it that?...Haha, just kidding. But I'm serious about the fortune-telling part.

Guess (I totally gave you enough clues to figure out the friggin' riddle!)? What songs do you think would represent the characters?


	5. In the Air Tonight

Disclaimer: Nope.

.:::.

**Teitan Academy: Open My Eyes**

Chapter 05: In the Air Tonight

"I still think that that was a bad idea."

"Forget thinking, that _was_ a bad idea. Even a blind man could see that."

"Or in this case, a deaf man."

"_Exactly._"

"Okay, okay, so it _was_ a bad idea. Fine, but who cares. It was fun~!"

"I'm sure we didn't know that before, Captain Obvious. Mark my words, never sign me up for something like that again. Don't say I didn't warn you this time, anyway. Swear, never _ever_ do that again."

"You're no fun~."

"Well, Tono, excuse us if –"

" – Well, no offense meant to you, Shinichi – "

" – we want our ears to stay – "

" – the way they are now."

"You people are so boring."

"Like we care."

"Shush. We have to get ready for opening now."

.:::.

It was...different, to say the least, than what she expected. She meant, that, would any _sane_ thief do something as flamboyant as this one? She was leaning against the wall of the display room, guarded by numerous policemen. Surrounded by at least ten officers, the night's prize lay in plain sight.

"There's just one flaw with that deduction," Saguru commented dryly, as if reading her mind. "This thief is _not_ _sane_. He is as crazy as anybody could get. Although if you say that to his face, the only thing it'll do is boost his ego. Though it _is_ a bit curious, as he's been around for a good three decades already, and –"

"EVERYONE INTO YOUR PLACES! THAT DAMN PHANTOM IS NOT GETTING AWAY TONIGHT!"

Masumi cringed from the sheer noise as the aforementioned exclamation was shouted through her earpiece. Inspector Nakamori, who she had been introduced to that night. Nevertheless, she had not enjoyed the first meeting. Her cheeks still stung from where he pulled them to make sure that she was not the phantom thief in disguise. She turned her glare on the half-Brit beside her. "How do you _not_ cringe when he shouts that?"

"Please. His decibel level is so loud I could hear it from my pocket."

She sighed in defeat. "Where did the others go, anyway?" She had been hoping that at least Shinichi would still be here to keep her company, instead of the -cough-kindofarrogantandcold-cough- half-Brit.

"Kuroba-kun declined the invitation, we lost the twins in the crowd, though I assume they are off causing mischief, Kudou-kun always disappears before the heist, so I wouldn't put too much thought on it, and Hattori-kun is right...there." He pointed.

As if on cue, the jade-eyed boy appeared, swearing profusely, vocabulary almost as colorful as said Inspector's. "That damned inspector doesn't listen to other's suggestions even when he knows they're right. Goddammit –"

"You should know better than to try to tell that inspector to do anything," Saguru chided, flatly. "What motivated you to even try such a thing?"

"Haha, Hakuba, very funny."

"And he'll be arriving in three...two...one –"

Again, as if prearranged, the lights in the room dimmed. Visibly, the muscles of all tensed as they waited. But they didn't get a chance to act.

The next, the lights had flickered back on. Eyed bulged. The night's prize was gone. Only soft velvet greeted their eyes. The Inspector cursed profusely. "AFTER HIM!"

Masumi herself was a bit confused on how they all headed toward the path that led towards the roof, but nevertheless, followed. Even if they were stupid, they _had_ been around a lot longer than she had. Maybe they had learned something.

Too bad she didn't care to notice the light switch by the blonde half-Brit's hand as she ran by. Said detective smirked in satisfaction, speaking into a hidden earpiece as he followed the transfer on the path to the roof.

"All clear here. We're headed your way. Hattori's on watch."

"Got it."

.:::.

He awakened from his dozing by the soft sound of the door clicking open –okay, so the taskforce shouting in the background had something to do with it too–. Dazed sapphire eyes blinked blearily, trying to bring themselves back in focus, only to refocus on a certain white-clad phantom thief.

"It's been a while hasn't it, tantei-kun? Did you miss me?"

"It's only been a month. Who would miss someone like you?" He retorted, almost in a snide way, standing up as they bantered, lost in their own world.

"My fans, of course," he grinned cheekily. "And my taskforce. They'll get lonely."

The detective scoffed. "I would think that they would do quite well without your insanity. First you, then your fans, then the taskforce. You can't even hold a decent conversation on them about you. Hell, about _anything_."

"I always do love to be of use."

"It wasn't a compliment, stupid thief."

"Of course it was. I'll make sure I send you some pictures of Nakamori-keibu all done up, complete with makeup and a tutu."

Shinichi couldn't stop the smirk from growing on his face at the mental image. He only shook his head exasperatedly. "You're such an idiot."

"But you like me anyway."

He turned away to hide the slight redness in his cheeks. "Don't jump to conclusions, stupid thief."

He didn't know why the other went silent. Had he said anything wrong? But he only caught a –familiar– look of horror on the thief's face before he was tackled to the ground and his vision went black.

.:::.

The first bullet narrowly missed her ear, burning a hole in the brick wall behind her. She wanted to call out, to go out of the shadows to help, but before she could, a hand clamped over her mouth.

"_Don't move_," The blonde's voice whispered lowly, dangerously, and she stopped her movements immediately, turning an accusing stare up at the other detective. What he just going to stand there and watch his friends get shot at? "_Don't go out_."

The minute she was free, she hissed, "What are you doing? Are you just going to stand there and let them get shot at?"

His brown eyes narrowed, blazing with anger. "They can handle it. The number one rule at KID's heists is that no one gets hurt, and he would do his best to keep that." He then ignored her, and seemed to be speaking to himself.

Masumi's eyes narrowed in defense, but refrained herself from saying anything. _Why were rich people just so full of themselves - !_ She threw herself aside to dodge another incoming bullet that just happened to head her way.

And why wasn't that damned detective doing anything to help? That was _their_ friend out there, right in the line of fire!

Meanwhile, Saguru had his own plans. "Inao, do you hear me? _He's here_."

"_The opposite building?_"

"That's right. He has strings attached as an escape route, so I wouldn't be set on capturing him. It would be impossible to detach them with the vast amount of people, so just get him to flee for the time being. Sera's suspicious, so make sure you aren't too obvious."

"_Alright. We're on our way_."

"I never knew you had a thing for speaking to yourself," she couldn't refrain herself from commenting snidely in her worry for her younger fellow detective. Saguru scoffed lightly.

"What makes you say that?"

"By the way to talk to yourself, one would think that you were helping that thief," she shrugged. "I didn't hear much of it, though."

His eyes were slits by now. "_How much did you hear?_"

"Enough to make a few connections. Now, why don't you sit me down and tell me about it, so we can wait this out?"

"What makes you think I'll tell you anything?"

"It wouldn't hurt, would it? And it sounds like you need all the help you can get."

A sigh. "You do know that if you tell _anyone_ you'll be murdered and your body never found. Agreed?"

"...Fine."

.:::.

He panted, trying to keep up with his brother as they ran up flight after flight of stairs. Why didn't this damn building have an elevator?!

"You okay?"

The older twin offered him a hand. He took it, panting. Running up so many flights of stairs did take its toll. Even though they both did baseball, Kazuhisa had always been just that much more athletic than him. He panted hard, "F-Fine."

A worried look was shot his way, but they nevertheless proceeded. "Just ten more flights to go, Shi." He choked. _Ten_ more?

The teasing look sent his way had him scowling in defiance. "Aw, should I carry you?"

"No!" he protested, turning away to hide his flush, squeaking in surprise when his felt himself being picked up. "Hey! What're you doing?"

"Carrying you," came the indifferent reply, "Now stop squirming. It'll be faster this way. I'll let you off the flight before the exit."

The younger twin huffed, before submitting. It was useless to quarrel, anyway, regardless of how others viewed their relationship as perfect. He wrapped his arms around the older twin's neck, and just let himself relax for the time being.

But as soon as he let himself relax, the worries had come again. The tiring running had managed to keep his mind off of the subject for the time being – but now that he was trying to loosen himself up, the subject again plagued his mind.

And above and foremost – were Kaito and Shinichi going to be okay?

The grip around him tightened. "Just relax, Shi."

He sighed. "I'll try."

.:::.

The sniper cursed, as the sound of footsteps running up the final stretch of stairs flooded his ears. It was just supposed to be that bastard thief and that stupid brat that night. Dammit, he had spent _months_ observing him to make sure. Why was today any different?

It was really too bad for them that he always, _always_ had a backup plan. Making his way carefully over to the edge of the building, he gingerly tested the ropes. His messy hair blew in the wind.

He'll have to get him some other time, he thought, teeth gritted. Although he had not been aiming to kill that night – his boss had gave him specific instructions –, it would have been better if he had been able to land him in the hospital.

Why did he have to kill them _in_ _order_ again?

Cursing under his breath, he gathered up his supplies. Just as the door to the roof burst open, he jumped. The looks of shock he received were welcomed – he so did like to strike fear into people's hearts.

Like he did to that boy...

But now was not the time to reminiscence about his past deeds. Evil deeds, yes, but he had needed the money, the authority, the power, the respect...

His first reaction upon having received this mission was shock – _thirty_ years _just_ to murder three people, if they did not give him the location of some magical, ancient gem passed down through family? Even if it had to be when they were alone, and had to be killed with a least three years between them – that is, if they did not reveal the whereabouts, after all, they needed to have time to think about it – it was a long time for such a task. He could just see the small quirk of lips of his master when another restriction was that he had to knock on the door – or ring the doorbell, for that matter – before he struck. But that was before he found out how hard it actually was.

The first had gone down, and that had taken him a good two years to get the chance. When rumors said that they were like, always surrounded by people, it wasn't exaggerated.

That night, when he had murdered the first of his victims, he had known that the last of them was still in the house. He had kept close watch on it that day. The boy had never come out. Which would mean he was still in the house. And had been watching him bargain with the Kudou.

It was a pity that because of that incident, the boy had lost his musical talent though. Those tunes and his melodies had always been an enjoyment.

He berated himself for becoming so attached. But he came to an agreement. He would accomplish this mission if it was the last thing he did. Even at the cost of his own life.

He would have to. Because his own loved one's life was at stake.

His wig was pulled off and disposed of, unseen within the masses of people. His hair was spiky and a deep, pitch black, face tanned. Brushing himself off, he stood up again.

He would do it. Because _she_ was at stake.

He would not let her die.

.:::.

A/N: Haha. Sorry for not updating this, the time skip (there were no suggestions -sobs-), and that it's so short. This was originally supposed to go up after Halloween, but since it's supposed to take place _before_ the event...here it is? I'm sorry it's so crappy, but I'm trying to put a bit more plot into this. Happy early birthday to me (It's this weekend)! Review?


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